MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

1971-2016

Promoting the Health of People and Communities for 45 Years

We have received numerous inquiries about the recent serious accidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), specifically the underground fire and the radiation leak. We would like to update concerned citizens about the on-going issues at WIPP, and discuss the expansion proposals for transporting more nuclear waste through New Mexico to the WIPP dumpsite. SRIC, CARD, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, and the WIPP Committee have hosted and will be hosting presentation sessions for the public to discuss these issues.

Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) was founded in 1971 for the purpose of providing information to the public on the effects of energy development and resource exploitation on the people and their cultures, lands, water, and air of New Mexico and the Southwest.

SRIC's purpose, including the focus on issues affecting the Southwest, has remained essentially unchanged, although it now has a successful record in affecting issues of national and even international importance, such as nuclear waste management and uranium mining reclamation. SRIC also has helped empower dozens of local community groups so that they effectively participate in government and corporate decisions that affect them.

SRIC's success over the years has been achieved by developing a link with communities based on trust, offering both expertise and great sensitivity for their need for empowerment.

Throughout its history, SRIC has strived to play a unique role among nonprofit, public-interest organizations active in New Mexico and the Southwest. That role has stressed providing accurate information and analysis that people and community groups can use to influence decisions that directly affect them. SRIC's community-sensitive technical assistance services are the reason that individuals and groups continue to seek out the Center's staff on a wide range of environmental and resource development issues. SRIC networks with dozens of groups throughout the nation on various issues, and staff are widely recognized as policy experts on nuclear wastes, oil and gas, and mining.

The primary issues that SRIC works on are multi-generational, multi-faceted problems. The five professional staff collectively have more than 100 years experience with the organization, reflecting their long-term commitment to the issues and to the affected communities.

PROGRAMS: SRIC's work can be described in two ways: First, we provide various services -- technical assistance, networking, public information, policy analysis, environmental analysis, and skills development. Second, we integrate those services into our five active, ongoing programs: